Almost good enough for the premiership equals good enough for the Championship I reckon. A 5 or 6/10 player in the prem is probably a 7 or 8/10 in the champs.
Yeah I reckon that's about right for them, they've both averaged about a 5.5 for us. They should both look better against ****ter opposition.
Both of those players will be good at Championship level IMO. I watched the mags win the league last season with worse at Right Back than Jones and Shelvey is about on a par with Rodwell except at free kicks (although, that said, I've never seen Rodwell take a direct free kick). But Shelvey stays fit all season and Rodwell doesn;t!!
I don't think yedlin is better defensively (worse personally) - maybe better going forward - I thought Yedlin played further forward every time I saw him. Allardyce got the best out of Yedlin at Sunderland - Pulis apparently got the best out of Jones at West Brom (they were touting him for England) so I guess it may be down to the manager but at Championship level Jones will be fine IMO
They're both pretty poor defensively, however I'd still rather Yedlin, by a country mile in all honesty - Billy Jones is just a properly **** footballer IMO. If he was so well thought at WBA then why did they let him leave on a free?
They didn't - they wanted him to stay and we convinced him to move to SAFC. As I say - I don;t particularly think either are great footballers - Yedlin is just lightning quick. Reckon Jones will be OK in the coming season though - the championship allows for more mistakes than the prem (I know that's not a good thing to look at but it does!)
We've got a lot of players who should do alright at this level particularly in midfield. By all accounts we've got some very promising youngsters who could break into the team as well. But until we plug some of the gaping holes in the squad it's hard to get too excited. We need at least one proven striker, a creative option in midfield, defenders to replace the likes of kone and dilibodji if they leave and another wide man presuming khazri will be off (mcgeady might be a good fit) If we can get good signings in the above positions we might challenge to win the league, if not play offs might be the limit of our ambition. Either way its a brutally tough league and we'll have to fight for every point.
That's just it - there is a decent championship team in there but there are holes in the squad! I actually think, if everyone was fit for a whole season. the sirst 11 (if we had Defoe still) would be ok as a premier league team! Sad reality of football and injury prone players!!
At the moment we have no idea what the team might be for the first game. That's because we don't know who will be going. And we don't know what the replacements, if any, might be like. What we do know is that The Championship is a hard League where injuries should be expected. We will need back up centre backs and full backs. Our midfield is, at best, questionable, and we must HOPE that Rodwell can finally find some form. Then we come to our strikers. There doesn't seem to be a regular scorer in the Squad. I'm a huge fan of Watmore, but he need to score more regularly. Otherwise we have the youngsters. Very promising but untried at this level. Finally we can look at our Keeper situation. Is Manone staying or going? If he goes that leaves us with only one senior keeper on the books. I am desperate to look forward to the start of the season with some confidence. But all things considered I'm finding that to be rather difficult.
I'd have Yedlin over Jones (who I really do not rate but to be fair I thought looked good at times in the last month or so of your season) but it's fine margins. I'd have Shelvey over Rodwell every day of the week. They are both limited players and can be bypassed by a good opposing midfield but Shelvey creates a lot more than I've seen Rodwell attempt. That said your overall midfield is probably better than ours was last season (Cattermole, Rodwell, Khazri, Watmore, Lens). Where you fall down is an out-and-out goalscorer, Gayle (for whatever his limitations may be at the top level) was the difference between promotion and play-offs for us. Plus your defence lacks depth and if one or two go then that could develop into being a problem area.
See I watched Shelvey in his later times at Swansea and then at your place and, in the PL, he looked no better than Rodwell has for us - although, as I said above, at least Shelvey stays fit for more than 2 games at a time!!
Grim reality of what needs done. RR think we need a 44 man squad, I think 40 will do it, but even with 40 we need a lot of players. Still no need to panic though, as the window moves on transfers will flow much quicker. please log in to view this image
Your biggest problem is the lack of depth in your squad and the lack of a finisher. I would say you're ok everywhere else on the pitch. The main questions are, who will go and who will you sign? That's what dictates your fate.
I still think we are a better team going down to what you lot were, if Simon Grayson gets the strengthening right with what we will be left with then there's a chance, might only be slim but it's a chance. We certainly ain't going to buy our way out of this league, that's for sure. As for your shower, I'm assuming the leazes and gallowgate protestors will be looking top 6, have a good home record and 14th is realistic. Just enjoy the season whatever..
The way things are going, we will be going back down. I knew MA would revert back to type once back in the PL. It's a case of wait and see. Based off last season I wouldn't say you had a better "relegated team" than we did but I would guess that's a matter of opinion. But for Defoe, you were utter dross. Anything can happen though. You need to add depth though and find a decent striker otherwise you stand no chance of achieving anything next season
44 sounds crazy high to me. You only need 22-25 and youngsters for the premier league. Any reason for the massive increase? Surely it's not that big a jump for the extra 8 games? Regardless, that spreadsheet is frightening considering you've included the kids and we still look so short.
